Any visual design of an object includes the aesthetic elements of form, pattern and colour, all combined in a proportioned and three dimensional form. Industrial design is all about working on these features for creating innovatively designed products.
After the creation of a specific design, the creators or companies are granted exclusive rights of ownership of that design. These rights are called the industrial design rights. Industrial design rights normally protect products which are design oriented, like furniture and jewellery, from unlawful use, though they can be extended to aspects like the original design of a bottle or the design of a mobile phone too.
An industrial design can be secured in all the member nations of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) by filing a proper application with the organization. However, if the designer does not contact WIPO and yet wants to safeguard his industrial design rights in various countries, then he has to seek protection from each nation separately.
There are numerous advantages associated with industrial design rights which cannot be overlooked. Having a registered industrial design protects the aesthetic features of the object, including its appearance and form. Any unauthorized use of a duly registered design like imitation is considered a crime. This protects the rights holder against losing his profits and allows him to get adequate returns on his commodity by being able to market his designs exclusively.
Industrial design rights also foster healthy competition and just business practices, which eventually help the consumers. They also promote creativity by punishing any unauthorized use of the original design. These rights duly reward the efforts of the team of designers who come up with such designs, and promote a better environment for the companies to work in.
Thus, like other forms of IPR, industrial design rights also play a very important role in promoting the smooth working of the world economy where sincere efforts and hard work are incentivized and plagiarism is discouraged.
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